Sumter jurors get summons from Lake

BY BILL KOCHTHE REPORTER

Published: Thursday, January 27, 2005 at 6:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, January 27, 2005 at 12:00 a.m.

SUMTER COUNTY - In the past, jurors were chosen from voter-registration lists. Now they're selected from driver's license lists, which has left Sumter County's potential jury pool on the low side.
That's because residents of The Villages, which also includes portions of Marion and Lake counties, have Lady Lake addresses, meaning those Villagers living in Sumter and Marion get jury summonses from Lake.
As Sumter County residents, that disqualifies them in Lake and makes them unavailable in Sumter.
"We still have the issue of (Lake's Clerk of the Court James) Watkins serving them," said Sumter's Court Clerk Gloria Hayward. "There's not a Sumter County zip code in The Villages. I don't get 100 percent of the drivers. I hear jurors tell me, 'I got summoned in Lake County' ."
Even some of Sumter County's nearly 46,000 registered drivers and Lake County's 144,000 are not correctly listed since a few are no longer residents of the area and haven't changed their residence, Hayward said.
State statutes require the Florida Department of Highway Safety provide updated lists to counties every three months, which doesn't rectify The Villages' situation, since the state relies mostly on the U.S. Postal Service's zip-code designations. The Villages' zip is 32159. Hayward said the state also lags in purging the juror list of convicted felons, who are ineligible to serve.
With their significantly larger populations, county officials in Lake and especially Marion say it's not a problem for them.
"It's a simple act of us not serving them," said Scott Roti, chief deputy of the court management department of Lake's Clerk of the Court.
While numbers are unavailable, Roti said Lake simply removes the out-of-county names from the county's list after potential jurors notify the county of where they live.
Jurors who have been disqualified must provide the court clerk in their home county with an affidavit stating actual residence, Roti said.
Hayward said Villagers living in Sumter County need to go to the Wildwood office of the state's Highway Safety Department to register as county residents.
"If they're going to be a Sumter County resident, they need to go to Wildwood. They'll encode (their driver's licences) with their Sumter County address," she said. "We're getting more and more names on the list."
Hayward said people often misunderstand jury duty. The average jury duty in Sumter lasts about a day. Most jury trials are for felony charges and drug charges. In Lake, jury duty typically lasts about two days, and the trials are also mostly felony cases, Roti said.
Hayward added that Sumter's Villagers gain a sense of connection to their county and a brief lesson in Florida civics by serving as jurors.
"Serving jury duty is a good time," Hayward said. "I bring treats. We make it as painless as possible."
Fees for 911 service also are affected. Money for 911 services goes to the county listed on residents' telephone bills, another reason Hayward said Villagers need to establish their residence properly.
Bill Koch covers The Villages for The Reporter. He can be reached at 1-800-255-4105 or bill.koch@starbanner.com.

SUMTER COUNTY - In the past, jurors were chosen from voter-registration lists. Now they're selected from driver's license lists, which has left Sumter County's potential jury pool on the low side.<BR>
That's because residents of The Villages, which also includes portions of Marion and Lake counties, have Lady Lake addresses, meaning those Villagers living in Sumter and Marion get jury summonses from Lake.<BR>
As Sumter County residents, that disqualifies them in Lake and makes them unavailable in Sumter.<BR>
"We still have the issue of (Lake's Clerk of the Court James) Watkins serving them," said Sumter's Court Clerk Gloria Hayward. "There's not a Sumter County zip code in The Villages. I don't get 100 percent of the drivers. I hear jurors tell me, 'I got summoned in Lake County' ."<BR>
Even some of Sumter County's nearly 46,000 registered drivers and Lake County's 144,000 are not correctly listed since a few are no longer residents of the area and haven't changed their residence, Hayward said.<BR>
State statutes require the Florida Department of Highway Safety provide updated lists to counties every three months, which doesn't rectify The Villages' situation, since the state relies mostly on the U.S. Postal Service's zip-code designations. The Villages' zip is 32159. Hayward said the state also lags in purging the juror list of convicted felons, who are ineligible to serve.<BR>
With their significantly larger populations, county officials in Lake and especially Marion say it's not a problem for them.<BR>
"It's a simple act of us not serving them," said Scott Roti, chief deputy of the court management department of Lake's Clerk of the Court.<BR>
While numbers are unavailable, Roti said Lake simply removes the out-of-county names from the county's list after potential jurors notify the county of where they live.<BR>
Jurors who have been disqualified must provide the court clerk in their home county with an affidavit stating actual residence, Roti said.<BR>
Hayward said Villagers living in Sumter County need to go to the Wildwood office of the state's Highway Safety Department to register as county residents.<BR>
"If they're going to be a Sumter County resident, they need to go to Wildwood. They'll encode (their driver's licences) with their Sumter County address," she said. "We're getting more and more names on the list."<BR>
Hayward said people often misunderstand jury duty. The average jury duty in Sumter lasts about a day. Most jury trials are for felony charges and drug charges. In Lake, jury duty typically lasts about two days, and the trials are also mostly felony cases, Roti said.<BR>
Hayward added that Sumter's Villagers gain a sense of connection to their county and a brief lesson in Florida civics by serving as jurors.<BR>
"Serving jury duty is a good time," Hayward said. "I bring treats. We make it as painless as possible."<BR>
Fees for 911 service also are affected. Money for 911 services goes to the county listed on residents' telephone bills, another reason Hayward said Villagers need to establish their residence properly.<BR>
Bill Koch covers The Villages for The Reporter. He can be reached at 1-800-255-4105 or bill.koch@starbanner.com.